A Little Wink From God

​I have a routine (feel free to judge me, I'm okay with that.) I shop on Amazon and then return the things that don’t work at the Kohl's Amazon return center. While I'm there I check the clearance section, then I cross the street, drop off any donations I have at Goodwill and do a quick walk through.

On my phone there is a running list of things I'm looking for at Goodwill and I wait patiently (sometimes months) for them to arrive. I also have my eye on a few things at Kohl's, waiting for them to go on sale or to make it to the clearance section when I can use some of that great Kohl's cash and coupons I have stored up.

One of the items on my Kohl's list is a beautiful artificial tree. I have looked at it for over 6 months, stalking it to the point that one Kohl's attendant thought I was up to no good. After she saw my love of this tree she told me it should go on sale soon. Well, it didn’t. I continued to check on it. Then all of the sudden it was gone. I was so sad. In the meantime, I would check Goodwill to see if someone had donated one, but no luck there either.

On my last Kohl's walk through, I saw it! They moved it to a new and obscure location. There it was, my tree and it was 20% off and I had an additional 20% off coupon. This was the day I had been waiting for. The tree was $199 marked down to $159 but with my extra coupon it would now be $127. I was ready to go and then…. I thought about my budget. The fact that things have been a little tight and we have some big added expenses caused my husband and I to tightening our belts on the non essentials. So, I was now in a bit of a pickle. My wants vs. my needs. Urgh!
 
I conversed with God saying “But God you know how long I have waited for this. This is the exception, right?” I looked at a smaller tree, not exactly the one I wanted, trying to rationalize my less expensive wants over what was needed. I found myself sadly walking away. I knew I made the right choice for our situation at the time, but it wasn't fun. I did ask God for one little thing. “God, you know how much I wanted that tree and how long I have waited. Could you just give me a little God wink and honor this choice I made and make this tree appear in Goodwill when I cross the street right now?”

Please hear my heart, I’m not saying our actions deserve rewards from God. It was simply the prayer of my disappointed heart at the moment. I went to Goodwill, dropped off my donations, checked the half price color tag of the day to see if anything on my list matched. I began casually strolling the aisles seeing if I could catch any deals on things we needed.
 
By this time, I had actually forgotten the conversation I had with the Lord, just 10 minutes earlier. So when I saw MY TREE right there, I stopped and said “wait, what.. God?” I instantly remembered that little prayer of my heart, not actually expecting the Lord to even care, but there it was . There HE WAS.

​I looked at this tree (that wasn't even half off) and paid full price for it! Yeah, you heard me! I paid the full $8 for it. Granted, it wasn’t as healthy and leafy as the Kohl's version, which is why I'm hiding half of it behind a chair. My "Goodwill, God Wink" Tree had a few miles on it, needed to be dusted off and cleaned up, but to me this tree was a reminder that I really needed in the season I'm in. The comfort of knowing God still sees me, still cares and wants to remind me that He will handle the things in my life that are out of my control was the perfect gift. I needed a God wink and I needed it this day.
 
Each time I look at my “Charlie Brown” tree that's missing several branches and leaves, I will remember that God is near, He hears and He really does care. If He cares about a silly tree, how much more does he care about the things that truly matter.

He cares, He sees, He loves.